Venice
1487
1487
Lex sat up as sleep finally wore itself out. His head was stinging a little, but not as badly as when Serenity had touched it. He stood and went down the hall, putting on some fresh salve and bandages.
"You're awake," Desmond said when he came back to the main room and found the other time traveler and his little brother seated at the table. Serenity was off to one side from them, gazing at the wall with the tattered Templar flag.
"Yeah. We're gonna need more supplies, bandages and herbs." Serenity shook her head and rolled her eyes at his words. Amir sent her a glare before standing and going to the Sparrow, putting his arms around him and hugging him gently, head resting against his chest. That done, he led Lex back to the place he'd been seated at, helping him to get down again.
Desmond stood and came over to them.
"How's the head?"
"******** hurts still. M'tired."
"We'll have to stitch it up soon." Desmond waited for a reaction. The Sparrow only rested his head against the wall. The Eagle sighed and took his seat at the table again. Amir frowned and looked at the Journeyman; his drawn appearance set worry to balling up his guts. He stood and made for the door.
"I'll be back."
"Where do you plan on going, child?" asked Serenity.
"He's going to Terminate something," Desmond muttered. "Or didn't you hear his"--putting on a thick Austrian accent--"I'll be back?" While the woman was distracted by the bartender, Amir pulled up his hood and walked up into the streets.
The Rhino's patrols went by first as he walked through the city. The boy slipped into a crowd and pretended to watch one of the myriad minstrels that pervaded the Serene Republic as much as any city. Once they'd gone, he continued on his way, making as circuitous a route as possible to throw off any possible persuit.
An hour or two later, the Elephant's patrols went by. This time he hid in plain sight, standing at the door of the church and kneeling, bowing his head, taking the worn, wooden crucifix from beneath his robes and holding it between his clasped hands--a pilgrim dressed in the white of penance and purity. A few stopped and gazed at him before continuing on, hearing a foreigner reciting some prayer.
Once the threat was blown over again, he took to his feet and made his way straight to the apothecary shop.
Inside, he found Nico at afternoon siesta, breathing softly through his mouth, a little spider crawling toward the interesting orifice. The Assassin reached down and took the spider away gently, placing it outside. At the touch, the apothecary stirred, blinking and squinting before feeling around and finding his spectacles, propped on one elbow.
"You look worn out, little Coal Tit," he said, voice sounding as if he spoke around a throatful of gravel, as Amir lowered his hood.
"As do you, amico. Did you sleep besides now?"
"No, Maria kept me up all night."
"Ah. In the good way?"
"In the glorious way. My wife blesses me with each caress." He boosted himself up and popped his neck, touching it automatically with a hand and making a sound of pain.
"Does your old wound pain you?" Amir frowned and stepped forward.
"Many old wounds pain me these days." Nico smiled widely. "Perhaps I'm getting old. Who's to say?" Standing, he made his way to the counter. "What can I do for you, amigo? Do you need medicines after our escapades?"
"Are you sure you don't have Second Sight?" The Spaniard laughed and motioned for the Coal Tit to follow, moving to the back room to grind some herbs and bag them for his customer. Amir jerked his head around as the stairs creaked to his right, Maria descending into view. The woman smiled at him softly.
"Our favorite customer. How is that sleepless boy with the awful mouth, the one the Red Owl defended? About nay high?" She held her hand a little above her husband's head.
"Did my brother offend you? I'm sorry." Amir pouted. "He was run ragged with no help from that woman or the other man taking care of the Red Owl. I was left to do all the competent guarding of all of them. Please forgive him."
"I already have, little one." Maria smiled. "But in case he hasn't understood my apology..." She went to one side and returned with her arms laden with a few small vials of herbal oils and a few bricks of soap. Amir skimmed over the words on some of the vials: Rosenoel, Lavendeloel, Minzoel. The young immortal took the satchel from beneath his robes and held it open, letting the apothecary and his wife load him down with their gifts: teas and soaps, oils and vials of salves and lotions, bandages as well, and several spools of thread and a little packet of extra needles. "Forgive me for the smells of the oils, my friend. I've nothing less flowery except this for now." She placed another vial in his bag, this one marked Olivenoel.
"I'll have to make sure Desmond doesn't eat that one." The Coal Tit put his arms around the others quickly. "Give Nadya a kiss for me." The couple nodded before going to the door and seeing the little fellow off.
The Assassin had taken off at a run and almost ran into another group of guards in his haste. He backpedaled quickly and bowed his head, crying, "Mi dispiace, signori!"
"Watch where you're going!" growled one of the strange new guards. Each had an axe to carry, each sported a helm in the shape of a cat's head. Where were they going? Amir could only guess as they walked on in a tight group again, their heads turning from side to side nearly constantly. Breathing a notch faster than before, he continued on to the hide out.
"Metal Lion has queened apparently," he said once down in the main room. "There are cat-headed men running around." Desmond stared at him for a while before coming to inspect the supplies Amir was putting on the end of the table.
"Attar of roses?" he asked in Arabic. "Really, Amir?" Amir nodded and grabbed a handful of grapes, devouring them as Desmond took up a needle and some of the thread, moving toward where the Sparrow lay. The next seconds were a blur of motion as Desmond's belt was snagged by the black-and-white blur, stumbling back from the Coal Tit as he moved to push him from the front. "What the hell're you doing, kid?"
"You're not going to hurt Brother!"
"What the--I'm only going to--"
"You're not going to do anything to him! I'm going to do it!" Amir glared at him outright. Desmond worked his mouth lamely until he found his voice again.
"Look, I've sewn up a lot of guys after bar fights in my time and--"
"My brother! Mine, not yours! Mein!" He shoved Desmond forcefully into a chair, faces nose to nose. "I fix him. Not you." The barkeep stared as the teen padded over to where Lex lay and knelt, leaning down to press a kiss softly to each of his cheeks. Lex opened his eyes, looking at the boy who gazed down at him intensely, fingers stroking his cheek, running over his lips.
Amir reached down and took off his belt, slipping it into Lex's mouth. The Sparrow closed his teeth over the gag as the other immortal removed the bandages from around his head. "Sei still, Bruderherz." Lex gasped as the needle pierced his skin, giving a cry he couldn't hold back as he shut his eyes tight and clenched his fists. "Shhh. Sei still, Bruderherz, sei still. Du bist sicher mit mir." Amir's lips were pressed to his ear, one hand beneath his head, cradling it gently as he worked. "Ich bin dein Prinz, herzallerliebster Bruder, und Ich bin mit dir. Du bist immer sicher in meinem Armen."
Lex's whimpers sank to exhausted panting as the Coal Tit finally finished his work, cutting the excess thread away. Brushing the sweat from his brother's cheeks, forehead, and neck, he leaned down and kissed his chest over his heart, then pecked his lips, pressing his lips to his brow afterward, the pain-flushed face held between his dark hands carefully as if the pallor patches upon it were porcelain instead of flesh and bone. Moving to the wardrobe, he found a brown, woolen cloak and used it as a blanket to cover the shivering Journeyman, stroking his cheek a final time before allowing him to slip into sleep.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully into the next.
X x X
Serenity watched the other Assassins languidly from where she sat at the table, yawning and drumming her fingers against the table top. She was increasingly bored with waiting for the others to heal and vocalized it with increasing volume.
"Come, one of you must be stable enough to do something with me," she finally groaned.
"Shut up, woman." The muttered order came from Jameel, who was either half awake, awake, or speaking in his sleep, It was difficult to tell with his hood drawn over his eyes. Either way, it worked. She clammed up. The other Assassins looked at her from their various seats around the room. "Keep it shut until you have something good to say, woman."
Lex went to the table and piled a plate full of some of their remaining fruit and some bread along with some of the tea that had been left to cool. He peeked under the Red Owl's hood.
"Think you can manage some food?" Jameel nodded, one brow arching upwards as Lex broke off some of the bread and stuffed some fruit into the fold, holding it out to him. Sighing, he opened his mouth, allowing the younger man to feed him. Lex smiled as he finished off the meal, holding the cup so he could sip the tea.
"Why does this smell like flowers?"
"It's to help fight infection."
"Give me some garlic if you want that to happen." Jameel shook his head and laid back down.
"Oh, I'm sorry. D'you prefer garlic breath to flower breath?" The Master Assassin looked at him as he took one of the other gifts given by the apothecary and his wife from the basket and began scrubbing at his mouth with a finger. He slowed in the scrubbing, looking at Amir, Serenity, and Jameel. "Wha'? Haven' you seen anybody brush their teeth before?"
"Just keep doing it with your right hand," Jameel muttered. "Otherwise, I would say you and the regular inhabitants of this city have become equally disgusting."
"So," Lex said, spitting into the canal when he was through with the brushing, "does anybody remember that Ezio guy? Just had a thought about him. Namely, shouldn't we go look for him?"
"We'll have to kill the Cat before we can get any recruits," Desmond reminded him.
"And how will we do that? We don't know where he goes at night or in the day."
"Bait him maybe?" Lex suggested.
"That's one of the stupidest ideas you've had since we got here," Desmond retorted.
Their voices faded into a buzzing noise as Jameel bowed his head against his tucked up knees. He couldn't think. His head hurt. I must have hit it hard when I escaped those traps. Harder than I realized. Why? Why this headache? Damn it. He squeezed his lids shut, curling tighter so that his hood covered his head, and still the backs of his eyes burned as if some little miniscule monster was driving a dagger into the backs of them from inside his skull.
Amir frowned as he watched the Red Owl.
"We'll try and find Ezio and scope out Lion." Desmond stood and went off with Serenity, having Lex by the arm to bring him after them. The two men frowned as the Sparrow was brought out of the hide out, but then returned their attention to one another.
"Dammit," Jameel swore. "Splitting headache." He didn't move from his position. It felt like his eyes were on fire. His brain refused to register anything other than the pain at the current time. His skull felt like it was going to fragment into pieces and simply fall to the floor around him. I didn't hit my head hard enough on the cobbles! Not enough to cause this, I'm sure! Seems sure isn't enough...
Amir's brows pinched together over his nose as he reverted to Arabic, "Did you hit your head?" It would only worsen their circumstances if there was some internal injury within the Red Owl's head.
"I must have done so when trying to escape those traps." Jameel curled tighter, pressing the casts to his face. His eyes burned now like someone had placed hot coals on them. He didn't want to open his eyes for fear it would only make things worse. His brain was felt like it was going to leak out of his ears if that happened. Make it stop! Bismillah, end this misery! Why does this pain continue?!
Amir's mind raced, coming up with any and every posibility so that he was now giving a soft whine, grasping his head in both hands. Now my head is starting to hurt.
Jameel groaned in agony, curling into an almost fetal position in hopes of somehow making it stop. It didn't. The splitting grip that held his skull wasn't budging in the slightest. He risked opening his eyes and let out a shriek, drawing his hood tighter over his face.
"Here, come here." The other immortal pulled Jameel over to him and covered his head with the cloak that had covered Lex as he slept to shade his eyes. Amir then settled his fingers against the man's temples and rubbed them in slow, counterclockwise circles.
The Red Owl relaxed, the headache partially easing. It helped--not by much, but it helped. His eyes still burned, though. Too bright...
"Thank you," he managed.
"No thanks are necessary. How's your head now?"
"It still feels like it's going to split. Why is it so bright here?" It was getting to where he didn't want to move, the pain was so great. Damned Templars.
"It's not bright..." Amir's frown deepened before he stood and went to the torches, extinguishing them one by one until only one at the far back of the last room down the hall was lit. "Well, Owl?"
"That's better, but my eyes burn still." He didn't bother to move from where he sat, only to lift his head. Everything in the room was clear as noon daylight. Every detail of the area vivid. Amir stared at the man's eyes, close as he was enough to see the massive pupils, as though Jameel had smoked a colossal amount of hash, the icy blue rings of his irises having acquired what appeared to be a glow. No, not only an appearance. It was a glow, a bright, frigid blue. "Amir, I see everything clearly. Is it daylight?"
The Coal Tit shook his head, searched for his voice, and found it.
"No, no, it's not daylight. I've put all the lights out." Taking a breath, he decided to be frank about this newest development. "Jameel, your eyes are glowing."
"WHAT?!"
X x X
The woman looked over at the two men. The three Assassins' hoods were up, weapons at the ready as they hurried over the roofs and through the streets toward the building that housed the Venetian Courtesans Guildhouse. I hope they're grateful. After all, I'm leading the way!
The two men pulled up sharply as Serenity stopped to get her barings.
"Are you lost?" Lex asked.
"Yes."
"How can you be lost?" demanded Desmond.
"Because I haven't passed this way in a while. Now let me think!" Desmond and Lex looked at each other before trying to pierce the gloom around them that was only illuminated by the moon and the eerily blue and black ripples on the walls from water in the canals.
After what felt like a good fifteen minutes, the woman made up her mind and led them on. She knocked at the door, waited a few minutes, and knocked again. No one answered.
Hurrying up the building to the roof, she said, "There's another place to try. Come!" The time travelers sighed and beat a path after her. Coming to the roof of the Venetian Thieves Guildhouse, they dropped into the courtyard by way of some scaffolding, Lex having some difficulty as the drops between struts were very long, and watched as Serenity repeated the knocking process.
"What's that about insane people and trying the same thing over and over expecting different results?" Desmond wondered aloud as they climbed to the roof again and down to the street.
"Let's head back," was all the reply he garnered.
"Thank God." Desmond turned and hurried back the way they'd come, the others following him, Serenity moving between him and Lex.
Desmond slid to a stop and took a sharp turn toward the docks as a roar sounded, putting his boots through their paces as he pounded down the cobbles. Lex gagged, having been about to go after him and finding his hood snagged, jerking him to a halt. He looked at the woman.
"What?"
"Did you not hear that roar? It was coming from ahead of us. Hide yourself here. I'll make sure no one has Desmond." She hurried after the Eagle. Lex opened his mouth to protest, only to throw himself behind a cluster of barrels as a cat-headed shape climbed into view on the nearest rooftop.
X x X
"I'd be condemned as a fiend if anyone saw this." He covered his eyes again, the blue glow highlighting the white plaster. They still burn! Why do they burn so much? There has to be something to make this damned unbearable burning sensation stop! Oh... Ya Rab, my eyes are glowing... My eyes are glowing. I'm a freak... If anyone sees this, I'll be labeled a monster.
He pressed his face into his arms, shutting his eyes. I'm a monster. My eyes only confirm it now.
"Jameel." Amir's firm voice forced his head to rise. "We're Assassins. No one sees us anyway but our allies, and those that do die. No one of us will condemn you." The boy's eyes widened a little. "Perhaps it only works in the dark anyway."
As Jameel watched Amir speak, the burning slowly faded. As it did, his vision faded as well. The headache winked out of existence. He sighed and lowered his head to his arms again.
"Light the torches. I can't see in the dark now."
The Coal Tit rekindled the torches and looked at him, smiling slightly.
"One consolation: your headache is gone."
"How do you know my headache is gone?"
Amir shrugged. "You relaxed." He took a seat beside him. "How will you be able to activate it, though?"
"I'm not sure. I'll have to practice." Jameel looked up as a roar outside caught his attention. Metal Lion was back out to play. Amir looked toward the exit at the roar, then doused the torches again.
"No harm in starting now."
Jameel pondered for a moment, then closed his eyes and attempted to use his new found power.
I want to see them when they return...
X x X
Several of the cat-headed men fanned out across the docks in answer to the roar, beginning to search thoroughly through the boats, netting, and crates left by the workmen. Lex moved back as one of the cat men began to come his way, slipping off the dock and into the chilly water. Taking a long breath, he dove low beneath the surface and swam to the nearest canal entrance.
X x X
The two Assassins thundered down the stairs and into the hide out, only to run up against solid blackness. They stopped stiff.
"Amir? Jameel?" Desmond whispered, then almost screamed as a hand covered his mouth. Shame crept over him a second later as they were hauled back toward the only lit room in the place. "What's up with that? Where's Jameel?" Amir jerked his chin toward the darkness. The others looked.
A pair of icy rings appeared in the midst of the darkness.
"I see you."
Any witty movie reference that was coming to the man's tongue immediately died in his throat. Amir watched the rigid figure of Desmond, then looked toward Serenity as she took a step back. His face took on a scowl.
"Where is my brother?"
Another roar sounded off, stalling whatever answer was coming from the pair. There were primal shouts in return, forming a macabre call and response song across the city. He has his own men now. Jameel clenched his fists. One was bad, but now he's many! And these fools have lost... He threw up his hands. I need to heal and everybody else needs to keep their asses out of trouble! This is fast becoming annoying, frustrating, and tedious!
"Agh..." Desmond gagged as he took in a deep breath. "What's that smell? It smells like something crawled in here and died."
"I really hate both of you right now," came an irate, low voice as the soft squishing of boots sounded from the darkness. "Huh? What's--" A pause. It lengthened. Then, "Whoa..." The squishing resumed and Lex came into the light, looking and smelling like he'd been dumped in someone's septic tank. He raised his hands and let two birds fly. Lex lowered his hands and sighed, walking back down the hall, swearing as he ran into a wall. The sound of wet palms slapping stone came to them before the door to the washroom was shut with a bang.
"Well, seems you won't be doing anything with that boy soon, Jameel," said Serenity. The Coal Tit and Eagle looked at her sideways before Amir took the torch down from the wall.
"The lights are coming back on," he warned as he lit the torches and returned the original to its sconce.
Jameel immediately shut his eyes at the warning, sighing as the slight burning behind them dimmed away to nothing. Opening his eyes again once the torches were all lit, he directed a very sour look at both Desmond and Serenity. Desmond swallowed; the Red Owl was clearly unhappy. Lex had to dive in the canals, which means one of them must've left him behind.
"Which one of you was it?" The two stared at him, barely hearing the low question that was almost a whisper. "Which one of you left him behind?"
There was a long moment of silence as Desmond looked at Serenity, who was focused on Jameel and Amir and spared him just a glance. It was broken only by the crackling of the torches and what sounded like sandpaper scouring wood. As Desmond was ruefully aware, it would take nothing less to get the smell out of one's robes.
"I thought he was behind me with Serenity," the bartender answered.
The female would have willed her glare into throwing knives had the power been hers.
"Under normal circumstances, would his being left behind be of any consequence?" She drew herself up to her full height. "Is it only a problem because of our extraordinary position, or is it that you've become so invested in this boy that you've lost sight of our ultimate aim? If the first, he's failed as an Assassin. He lacks any sense of stealth, cannot handle himself in a fight--I have heard how he hung back while the others fought and you were injured, almost killed! If the second, he merely curries favor from you by being your lap dog, seated on a cushioned pedestal." This last was said with a hint of a disgusted look. "Why bother with him, Jameel? Answer me that."
Desmond grabbed Amir quickly as the Coal Tit strode toward the woman, his hidden blade free of its sheath. The boy flailed as he was lifted from the floor, beginning to yell in Arabic before the man covered his mouth. The barkeep made a noise of pain as Amir bit his hand savagely, but only hissed at him to shut up as he watched Jameel.
The Red Owl was almost speechless with rage, his fingers wanting to ball into fists, the spasms of muscle memory only sending pain through his hands and aggitating him further. She needs a good punch to the mouth! She needs to be throttled! I would stone her myself if my hands worked at this time, insolent wench! Clearly she could find some reason to have a grudge against everyone in this room but me, so why not lump me in with the others and make it easy on herself?
"You forget the last tenet of the Creed." Jameel ground the words out through his teeth. "Do not compromise the Brotherhood. Had Lex been left out there any longer, he would have been captured and made to talk. With their methods, he'd tell them everything, compromising us all in the process with your unwitting aid, and then they would have slit this throat and left his body for us as a present! We all would be under the mercy of that mad b*****d and his guard!"
"I have not forgotten the Creed! And if that boy had any knowledge of it, he'd have slit his own throat before the guard could take him!"
Desmond gawked at the woman, Amir having gone slack in his grip after her exclaimation, as well and truly stunned as the man holding him. The entire hide out had become graveyard quiet, the atmosphere just as heavy. The furious scrubbing had been silenced. Even the torchlight appeared to burn in quiet awe at the audacity of the remark.
Jameel's face was livid, his body trembling from head to foot. Desmond swore he could check his pulse from where he stood. If she keeps this up, she's gonna find herself knocked out, or worse. Would Jameel kill her? Amir would. If she's not killed, she's gonna be kept on a very short leash, I guess. He held Amir tighter as the boy began to squirm. Seems like the type of girl who goes to tattle on big bro to dad, but who's dad in this situation?
"I was captured once." The words were almost growled from deep in Jameel's throat, his accent prominent, as if any moment he would slip back into his native tongue. "I did not talk, no matter what they did. After killing one of their guards, I disguised myself, gathered my stolen equipment, and simply walked out the door." He pointed to the washroom door with one of his plastered hands. "Lex does not have the kind of discipline to survive such treatment as I was subjected to. And none of us would be good to the cause if we're dead!" His shout echoed around the hall and was allowed to die before he continued, "We have so few Assassins as is! We need to rescue our own if we're even to gain ground against the Trio! You're not helping by pointing fingers and making accusations!" He spat on the floor in front of her feet. "Now take yourself from my sight, woman. Sharpen your equipment, train, go bleed from your crotch in the corner, but whatever you do, do it away from me!"
Serenity stared at him. She was unable to picture the strong man before her ever being captured, much less tortured. The information had done its job of shutting her up. Bowing her head, she only murmured, "As you say."
Desmond released Amir slowly. The minute he was freed, the boy strode to the woman and put a hard right into her face, putting her flat on her back. The woman sat up, looking at the Red Owl. "I hope you enjoyed that because it will not happen again."
Jameel turned on his heel and strode to the washroom door, slipping Amir a relieved look as he passed, pushing it open with his shoulder and entering the steamy room.
Lex sat in the small tub, water up to mid chest, scrubbing at his skin furiously, some patches scrubbed an almost bloody raw. He glanced up at Jameel and returned to his scrubbing.
"What're you doing here?" He poured some more of the olive oil onto the rag he was using and began to scrub some more. "It's not like you can help me bathe. You can't get those casts wet." Jameel moved over to the tub, watching as Lex ducked his head under the water. "Besides, didn't you hear Serenity? I completely blew that mission. I'm the number on disgrace to the Assassin Order this side of the sixteenth century." Blue eyes trailed over his skin as Jameel leaned down, resting his arms around Lex's chest, elbows on the rim of the tub.
Lex gasped, the gasp becoming a sigh as Jameel nibbled at the crook of his neck. He swallowed, head tilting back. Jameel took the access he was granted, kissing the younger man's Adam's apple where it bobbed in his throat.